The Hidden Killer in THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT

[This article was originally posted in September, 2016 on an old website of mine]

The YouTube channel The Film Theorists just released a video suggesting that there is nothing supernatural, no witch, in The Blair Witch Project, and that the events of the movie are actually a plot of the characters Josh and Mike to murder Heather.

They're half right.

I don't agree that the movie could secretly be about a plot to murder Heather. For one thing, I don't think it's to Mike or Josh's benefit to keep the cameras rolling, let alone leave all that footage behind. That's also ignoring the fact that they spent 7 days walking in circles. Could Mike and Josh have kept Heather confused for that long? If they wanted her dead, couldn't they have done it on, say, day 1 or 2, rather than spend a full week wandering around in the forest? It's not as though they knew people would find the footage and chalk it all up to "a witch did it," right?

No, there's no denying that something supernatural was to blame for the three filmmakers being lost and ultimately killed, but what evidence do we have that the Blair Witch is the killer?

Early into the film, we're introduced to the story of the Blair Witch, through interviews with the residents of the town where the witch once lived. We're also introduced to the stories of a couple other legends: Coffin Rock, and Rustin Parr.

Rustin Parr was a serial killer responsible for murdering 7 children in the 1940's. As the story goes, he claimed he heard voices that compelled him to kill. It's said he would bring the children into his basement two at a time, and have one stand in the corner facing the wall while he killed the other.

As Heather, Mike, and Josh walk through the woods, they encounter 7 piles of rocks. After several nights, they hear the sounds of children outside their tent. At the end of the movie, they find a house in the woods, and of course everything closes with Heather and Mike in the basement. Mike stands in the corner while someone attacks Heather from behind, causing her to drop her camera, as the credits roll.

For a movie called The Blair Witch Project, it sure seems to make the case that Rustin Parr is the killer.

The stories of the Blair Witch are what got Heather, Mike, and Josh out into the woods, and it's their hunt and their documentary that gives The Blair Witch Project it's name, but ultimately, it's the other story that explains the rocks, the children, and what happened in that house.

The true killer is Rustin Parr.

Am I wrong? Is there something else in the woods? Tell me what you think in the comments below.